Will one or both of my children (boys age 7 & 9) left in the careful care of my mother, fall and sustain a severe injury, prompting the school to ignore my careful crafted instructions that I am off the grid & unavailable & to call my mom in case of emergency, and instead try to call me multiple times, eventually giving up & then notifying either the authorities or my ex (kid's dad) that I am uncaring & an unfit mother?

dcweas wrote:Will one or both of my children (boys age 7 & 9) left in the careful care of my mother, fall and sustain a severe injury, prompting the school to ignore my careful crafted instructions that I am off the grid & unavailable & to call my mom in case of emergency, and instead try to call me multiple times, eventually giving up & then notifying either the authorities or my ex (kid's dad) that I am uncaring & an unfit mother?

Probably not.

Also, will my parasol blow apart in the wind?

I've used the same parasols at 2+ Burns without them blowing apart or incurring damage. One is treated heavy paper, and the other was a traditional umbrella too amusing not to use. (I just bought a third in white cotton.) I use them for neighborhood strolls at moments of little-to-no wind, of which there are plenty. If it's gusting, I close 'em up.

In 2008 I flew into Reno but my enormous bag did not. It had my camping gear, clothes, gifts, camelbak, and random stuff I needed. All I had was my carryon with a change of clothes and toiletries. I got some goggles, a cup, food, and water at Walmart. Beyond that my wonderful campmates all helped me out with a tent, moisturizer, ect. Luckily I was camped next to the boutique.

I checked with Playa Info every day but my bag never was delivered. It eventually turned up 2 weeks later. The experience totally sucked but was also pretty cool that everyone helped me out so much.

jobi wrote:In 2008 I flew into Reno but my enormous bag did not. It had my camping gear, clothes, gifts, camelbak, and random stuff I needed. All I had was my carryon with a change of clothes and toiletries.

At first I read this as "all I had was my crayon" and I thought of the wonderful children's book Harold and the Purple Crayon where he drew his reality with a crayon. It's apt, because in a sense we do create our reality by adapting, coping, and well ... you know ... applying those Burning Man principles of immediacy, self-reliance, and community.

Oh man jobi, we're going non-stop for that very reason! My USPS gear arrived safe and sound yesterday and all my stuff still at home fit in the single checked and carry-on! Breathing easier now, prolly the last post as it's off on the first leg of my adventure. Cheers all, thanks to everyone on this board that helped with various questions and have provided so much information and assistance! See you in dust!

jobi wrote:In 2008 I flew into Reno but my enormous bag did not. It had my camping gear, clothes, gifts, camelbak, and random stuff I needed. All I had was my carryon with a change of clothes and toiletries.

At first I read this as "all I had was my crayon" and I thought of the wonderful children's book Harold and the Purple Crayon where he drew his reality with a crayon. It's apt, because in a sense we do create our reality by adapting, coping, and well ... you know ... applying those Burning Man principles of immediacy, self-reliance, and community.

Well, no wonder. Carrion was misspelled.

The Lady with a Lamprey

"The powerful are exploiting people, art and ideas, and this leads to us plebes debating how to best ration ice.Man, no wonder they always win....." Lonesomebri

My friend Meri had her flight postponed so I can't pick her up at the Reno airport. Now I have anxiety for her sake. I gave her the link to the ride share board. Her flight arrives Tuesday at 6:30 pm.

I'm anxious for her because it's her first burn, she's a brain-cancer survivor which left her with a minor speech impediment, and I don't know how she really copes because I haven't seen her in many decades. I can't imagine the adventure that awaits her trying to find my camp in the dark on her first day in BRC.

and with it pain shame and embarrassment. Surrounded by people that love me and I'm flipping out and feeling alone pitied and not worthy.

Wait, pause breath, in with the good out with the bad... I know this drill I'm just fuckin not there today. and I'm onstage I want to be withdrawn but physically need help from others. arrrrgh! and the pain killers are fucking with my emo-space and fuckitalltohell this hurts.

.......................................................................................Oh yeah, this year I was totally twerping out at the fence. ~Lonesombri

Knowmad, you have an injured/fractured rib along with that pelvis, right? I remember that the one panic attack I have ever had (miraculously just the One, since I am an anxious person by nature) . . . was experienced when I was recovering from a bad chest cold. I think when breathing is compromised, the brain is especially inclined to go to a dark place. Anyway, I'm glad you've got love around you today. It probably feels good for them to take care of you, seriously. Keep breathin'.

knowmad wrote:...Wait, pause breath, in with the good out with the bad... I know this drill I'm just fuckin not there today. and I'm onstage I want to be withdrawn but physically need help from others. arrrrgh! and the pain killers are fucking with my emo-space and fuckitalltohell this hurts.

...and it's fun when you start avoiding breathing just to get a pause with reduced pain level. After a while, you have a new automatic breathing pattern. I found my self working with O2 levels between 80% and 86%.

In one week, I was able to go from morphine three times a day down to twice a week by eliminating caffeine from my diet. Specifically, eliminating coffee & colas. After this, black tea had a minimal aggravation of pain (despite having a relatively high caffeine content?), provided no decaff coffee the same day; decaff coffee and any mild caffeine source was hell. A single coffee or cola would have me wracked with aggravated pain for three days. YRMV, but it doesn't cost anything to try...

Jar Jar Sith Lord.Odd. No bears in the dump. Oh well, lets go across the road & pick blueberries..... but don't harm the red dragon that frequents the area from time to time. He and I have an agreement.

knowmad wrote:...Wait, pause breath, in with the good out with the bad... I know this drill I'm just fuckin not there today. and I'm onstage I want to be withdrawn but physically need help from others. arrrrgh! and the pain killers are fucking with my emo-space and fuckitalltohell this hurts.

...and it's fun when you start avoiding breathing just to get a pause with reduced pain level. After a while, you have a new automatic breathing pattern. I found my self working with O2 levels between 80% and 86%.

In one week, I was able to go from morphine three times a day down to twice a week by eliminating caffeine from my diet. Specifically, eliminating coffee & colas. After this, black tea had a minimal aggravation of pain (despite having a relatively high caffeine content?), provided no decaff coffee the same day; decaff coffee and any mild caffeine source was hell. A single coffee or cola would have me wracked with aggravated pain for three days. YRMV, but it doesn't cost anything to try...

Yeah I have cut out Caffeine and sugar, and smoking because of the risk of pneumonia (lung capacity is down 25%, because of the break)But wasn't aware that the caffeine is/was a pain aggravation. makes sense though.

.......................................................................................Oh yeah, this year I was totally twerping out at the fence. ~Lonesombri

Caffeine raises my blood pressure by 10+ points! But my blood pressure has been perfect since I weaned myself off in July for the Burn. (I wanted modest doses to work on the playa. They did.) I think I'm less anxious too, but it's harder to measure than blood pressure.

I know I will make it to November without coffee, now, but I'm even giving thought to continuing beyond.

Savannah wrote:Caffeine raises my blood pressure by 10+ points! But my blood pressure has been perfect since I weaned myself off in July for the Burn. (I wanted modest doses to work on the playa. They did.) I think I'm less anxious too, but it's harder to measure than blood pressure.

I know I will make it to November without coffee, now, but I'm even giving thought to continuing beyond.

yeah when on mussel relaxers a jolt to the blood pressure feels like free-fall. I generally cut the Joe out in the spring as I don't "need" it there after. But living in the Pacific northwest Caffeine addiction is as common as moss, coupled with Seasonal Affected Depression (S.A.D.) Caffeine abuse is pretty easy to fall into and in my opinion not as wonky on the emotions as are the "Emotional Stabilizers" that are offered by my Doctors. Not looking forward to the coming darkness and the blahs it brings. My plan of defending myself from myself this year is High veg-fruit diet, B-12 supplements, exercise, Marijuana during anxiety attacks, and bi-weekly Sweat lodges. and starting somewhere around Solstice I'll start into the coffee and the solitude.

.......................................................................................Oh yeah, this year I was totally twerping out at the fence. ~Lonesombri

Savannah wrote:Caffeine raises my blood pressure by 10+ points! But my blood pressure has been perfect since I weaned myself off in July for the Burn. (I wanted modest doses to work on the playa. They did.) I think I'm less anxious too, but it's harder to measure than blood pressure.

I know I will make it to November without coffee, now, but I'm even giving thought to continuing beyond.

yeah when on mussel relaxers a jolt to the blood pressure feels like free-fall. I generally cut the Joe out in the spring as I don't "need" it there after. But living in the Pacific northwest Caffeine addiction is as common as moss, coupled with Seasonal Affected Depression (S.A.D.) Caffeine abuse is pretty easy to fall into and in my opinion not as wonky on the emotions as are the "Emotional Stabilizers" that are offered by my Doctors. Not looking forward to the coming darkness and the blahs it brings. My plan of defending myself from myself this year is High veg-fruit diet, B-12 supplements, exercise, Marijuana during anxiety attacks, and bi-weekly Sweat lodges. and starting somewhere around Solstice I'll start into the coffee and the solitude.

Oh, believe me . . . I'm in the same region as you, so I've met SAD, and it's a bitch. This is why I don't think I'm gonna make it through the winter without coffee, but I'll go as long without it as I can.

I like to use 400mg Sam-e (an amino acid) for SAD in winter. 30+ minutes before a meal, and not at night. The Safeway brand works great; it's made in Italy (where they take the potency more seriously I've read) and they sell it "buy 1 get 1 free" every few weeks. If you are bipolar, you shouldn't use it without being supervised. B vitamins enhance it slightly. Your mileage may vary . . .

SAD actually affects most people that don't get out enough, but they don't usually realize it until they have other issues.Doesn't have to be seasonal either.

An IES engineer told me some years ago that one theory was that color wasn't important, but brightness was.I seem to be very sensitive to color myself, and he said he had seen that before.I prefer a very high K white, like a winter morning.I use colortone 7500K bulbs in 4 foot fluorescents.These used to be very pricey, but quite cheap now.

"White" is essentially an arbitrary term, as there is no single composition to sunlight.

Best thing to do is expose yourself to direct sunlight on your face early in the morning.The infrared component may be important too.Failing that, use a bright light source.

Fancy full spectrum bulbs are probably not necessary for this, but always more pleasant to use.

The cheapest decent daylight cfls i know of are the ones from home depot.walmart did have the cheapest, but raised their prices.The ge from walmart are a higher K and I prefer them, but the home depot cfls are satisfactory.(Using these on a temporary lighting string really cuts down the amp draw and allows you to use longer and thinner cords without dimming.)

Proper fixtures and ballasts are worth the cost though, and more efficient.Cfls and fixtures are available in 12VDC.

They make some very high wattage screw in fluorescents now, if you need them, up to 150-200 watts.You can also get the medium base Y adapters from home depot etc, where you have space.Four 23-26 watt cfls can be used on a single open socket.